oday was potentially a pivotal day. There was a technician calling for a possible peak in the S&P and that was partly on yesterday's dollar strength. Then came the disappointing consumer confidence data. Amazingly, we had a very mixed market close picture today depending on which group of stocks you were looking at. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 9,882.17 +14.21 (0.14%)
S&P 500 1,063.41 -3.54 (-0.33%)
Nasdaq 2,116.09 -25.76 (-1.20%)
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Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU) Q3 earnings looked good on the surface at $2.16 EPS vs. $1.85 estimates as revenues rose 39% to $187 million vs. $188 million expected. The company said that new technology was causing a lower outlook to revenue of $174 to $180 million vs. $203 million expected. Shares were off as much as 20% but were 'only' down 11.7% at $382.23 late in the trading day.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) rose sharply after the company posted a 34% profit drop down to about $5.3 billion. This compares to $8 billion in profit a year ago when oil was through the roof and compares to $4.4 billion in Q2. Shares were up 4.4% at $57.95 late in the trading day.
Comverge Inc. (NASDAQ: COMV) was up sharply as many feel it will get a surge in orders for its peak load capacity solutions under part of Obama's $3.4 billion in SmartGrid grants made to large electric utility customers. Shares were up 10.5% at $13.00 late in trading session.
DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) was one of those reports that traders and investors could have said "so you buy" or "so you sell" after it reported earnings at $74.9 million, or $0.27 EPS, outside of interest rate swap charges. The combined revenue from drilling and drybulk operations was down nearly $100 million from a year ago to $228.2 million. Shares were down 7% at $6.40 late in the trading session.
IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) was higher most of the day yet went south after beating earnings. The online content and online destination and search company noted that asset sales did help profits at a time where advertising revenues were slow. The company earned $21.7 million or $0.16 EPS (made $0.34 EPS on an adjusted basis) and revenue fell by 9% to $337 million. We had Thomson Reuters estimates at $0.13 EPS and $334.9 million in revenues. Shares were down 0.6% at $19.23 ahead of the closing bell.
LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) rose as the solar wafer maker raised guidance to third-quarter revenue of $270 to $290 million and for wafer shipments to between 310 to 330 MW. Shares were up 2.8% at $7.33 late in the session.
Chasing Value: 43% Gain to Build a Position in KB Homes
Closing Bell: St. Patrick's Day Hat Tricks (GE, FUQI, SNV, HIG, BBI, PLCM, ERC, MEE)
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